Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Sparkpeople

http://www.sparkpeople.com/

What I've learned so far:
1). That I eat most of my calories in the form of snacks - that I'm not a big eater of "meals".
2). That I eat between 2500 and 2900 caolories a day.
3). That a lot of calories come from my kids' crusts, and from "popping" things in my mouth without thinking about it. For example, while making a healthy 1/2 sandwich, I will "pop" one slice of cheese and one slice of turkey in my mouth while making it.
4). That I burn between 500 and 1200 calories per day.
5). That what I consider a "portion" is actually twice the size of the manufacturer's portion size (i.e. cereal!)
6). That the weight I gained in the fall when I was struggling with my heart and therefore not exercising at all, can be attributed to the 1000 calorie excess I was eating and not exercising away. I've kept that weight on with holiday junk (but tasty!) food and alcohol at parties during the holidays.

So, what I need to do to lose those 10 pounds is to cut out the mindless "popping" of food into my mouth, quit drinking (well, maybe except at the after party at the marathon this weekend), and toss out all the leftover holiday candy, including what's left in the box of See's Candies. I can't eat even the "but it's my favorite" junk.

I'll re-post about every week or so on this topic. I need to be 155 lbs to race and not feel like I'm lugging too much of myself along.

14 comments:

greyhound said...

Quit drinking??!! Mon dieu!

Well, if you do, don't forget to inoculatte yourself, because embarking on such a defalon withtout any kind of chemical enhancement can cause a marked rise in glibido, and Bob won't like that.

Steve Stenzel said...

I can see #3 being an issue with EVERYONE!

Amanda said...

I have been using sparkpeople for over a year. It was a real eye opener for me. I haven't lost much weight, but I am much more aware!!

21stCenturyMom said...

On the plus side - what an easy 'diet'. Stop popping and you will shrink!

Comm's said...

Hey thats my problem too.

brendaj said...

The leftover chocolates in the box are what always get me! And usually I end up being the one to eat them ALL.

ShesAlwaysWrite said...

I recently discovered I'm eating nearly 3000 calories a day since the baby came (aren't food tracking apps the best?), and with a newborn I'm not exactly back into my old workout routine yet! Even eating all that I'm still ragingly hungry most of the time (I blame the nursing) but I've already gained 3 pounds in less than 2 months. GAH!

Unknown said...

If you're tracking it, you can figure out the best way to correct the situation.

I, on the other hand, am just guessing.

It seems to me that your approach is better than mine!

Bolder said...

right there with yah on the cereal bowls...

you know you've got a problem, when you keep looking for bigger and bigger bowls...

i'm at mixing bowls right now.

IronWaddler said...

I have been using spark people recently and I like it alot.

triguyjt said...

number 5 gets me every time

yikes

Fe-lady said...

Hey congratulations on a solid marathon time! Hope you had a good race! And hope you had a blast with fellow bloggers! Enjoy the weather-turned out to be a perfect day! Can't wait to hear about the whole experience on your site!

Pat said...

Jenny, it was nice to meet you in AZ. Hope you had a great race and I look forward to reading the race report.

Cliff said...

IronJenny,

I do think you burn more than 500 calories a day.

I weight 150 lbs and I burn 1800 calories a day. The little junk do add up.

This is all my own theory but i suspect calories recieved from veges are better than those from carbs (pasta, rice etc.).

I know winter time we tend to gain weight :0. Once summer comes and training ramps up...the lbs just melts of...literrally :P